May 18th Oudtshoorn

Froze my buns off, could not feel my fingers, feet, nose or ears, the window at the back and the door was open, big mistake, won't happen tonight.

Slept in until 8:30 because I never slept well, but did go off and have a real larnie bath, piping hot water and all the modcons, wow, I can't believe I used to take a daily bath for granted, this is awesome, I wish I could wash enough for a week, like save up all the cleanliness in layers or something.

We walked into town, down Baron Van Reede Straat, the way into town and the way out, and Lani was good for the first kilometre but rapidly faded after that so it was a slow walk all the way down to Voortrekker street, drew some money at the Pick .n Pay and then stopped in at Brain's Grill so the dogs cold get a rest, well so Lani could get a rest, she curled right up and went to sleep. A small town is funny, everyone coming in to the courtyard knows everyone already here, it's like one big family, we did enjoy our meal and a chat to the locals about the dogs, they are good conversation pieces, one lady in Herold's Bay stopped me to take a picture of them because she said they represent the rainbow nation.

Slow, slow and slower to walk the 2 km back to Kleinplaas, I had to carry Lani about 4 times, poor thing just cannot walk far.

120 year old building

So the pups and I went into the open field next door to play with the ball, then I introduced them to the ostriches, 4 in a pen at the bottom of the field, they did not know what to make of them, I can tell you, I would rather be chased down by an angry rhino than face an ostrich, they look real scary and fast and those legs are solid blocks and the claws look like they could do some damage too, glad we had a fence between us.

By the time I had to leave for the Barry Hilton show I had tuckered all the dogs out as much as I could, I drove the one km to the Pearl of Oudtshoorn and parked near the door, left a light on for the dogs and they were inside the camper alone for about 2 hours, the doorman kept checking on them for me, but they survived just fine, I went into the bar when I left and grabbed a handful of what I assume is ostrich biltong, and the dogs forgave me instantly for leaving them once they smelt the treat.

So everyone at the show new everyone else, including Barry it seemed, we were given sherry and smiles and welcomed in and sat in the pub watching rugby before being seated in the very small conference room, maybe 100 of us, and Barry popped onto the stage and just started his spieel.

Wow the guy is amazing, I know he has been doing this for about 30 years but it takes some talent to just go from one joke to the next and involve the audience and ad lib and simply never stop talking and having us in stitches and he has no notes or crib sheets or prompts or anything, plus he never swears, I think he is great and time flies when you are having fun, glad I went to see him live finally, always wanted to, another tick in my to do list book.

Home to a mild night and a quiet park, a whole bunch of bikers arrived around 5 from the BMW club, they rode up today from Cape Town and were having a braai this evening, sleeping over and riding back tomorrow, that must be a great weekend, but they were all asleep when we got back, bikers are not what they used to be it seems.

This has turned out to be a mld night so hopefully I won't freeze any of my parts off tonight, which will be good because I don't think I have many parts left that can be frozen off.

Sleep well, this travelling lark is getting better, we are more organized and life is starting to become more routine, we seem to be falling easily into patterns and ways that even the dogs follow, like making the bed in the evenings and moving mattresses in the mornings, the dogs know to stay outside until I'm done, they also stay out when I make coffee and wash dishes, very smart children, now if only I could teach them how to make coffee for me, that would be a treat.